"I'm pleased with your display of loyalty, guardians." Momonga let his voice echo through the room with as much majesty as he could muster.
"You may raise your heads now."
He watched the highest-ranking NPCs of the Great Tomb of Nazarick closely.
Now, above each of their heads, he could see some information.
Albedo/ Lv 100/ Loyalty 100
Demiurge/ Lv 100/ Loyalty 99
…
Victim/ Lv 35/ Loyalty 99
Nyx/ Lv 1/ Loyalty 100
[Eye of Discernement] was the skill responsible for this change. It apparently let him see some information about the people he looked at.
As for how much information he could get, it depended on how much Influence he had.
When he had 0 Influence, he could not even see their names, but now that it had grown a bit, he could see their levels and loyalty.
He wondered what he would be able to see in the future. This was a very interesting and useful skill.
As for the reason for this growth, it had to do with the Floor Guardians' pledge of loyalty.
After they did it, his status window changed.
-
Host: (Name)
Level: 100
Territories: Great Tomb of Nazarick(Divine)
Subordinates: Shalltear, Cocytus, Aura, Mare, Demiurge, Victim, Albedo…
Influence: 100
Special Skills: [Fusion], [Eye of Discernement], [Blessing of Life]
Skills: [The Goal of All Life is Death], [Dark Wisdom], [Create High-Tier Undead], [Create Middle-Tier Undead]...
-
He now had a territory and subordinates, which should be the reason for his growth in Influence.
Considering that the Pledge of Allegiance was the trigger for these changes, he could surmise that in order for someone to be registered as a subordinate, an external act of showing their loyalty to him was necessary.
And after all of them were listed as his subordinates, he received another notification from the system.
[Congratulations, Host, on conquering your first territory]
Great Tomb of Nazarick
Rank: Divine
[Territory Reward pending]
[Do you wish to claim?]
Yes
[Divine Reward Redeemed
Shooting Star x 1
Skill Upgrade Card x1
Yin-Yang Coffin x 1
Hanzo x 10
Dragonhide x 10
Celestial Uranium x 5
Scarletite x 5
Collar of Great Burdening x 50]
[Cooldown: 180 days]
Looking at the list of rewards, Momonga was pleasantly surprised. Even if he were to disregard the other rewards, just Shooting Star by itself was already a great reward.
This was a super-rare item in the game gatcha. Back in Yggdrasil, he had spent a lot of money to obtain it, while Yamaiko, one of the 3 female members of Ainz Ooal Gown, easily obtained it after only a few tries.
Momonga had been incredibly jealous back then, but seeing as he obtained another one on his first day in this new life, he didn't feel as jealous anymore.
It seemed he would need to wait 6 months for the next reward, but he didn't mind that. The function of the system seemed clear now.
It still wanted him to conquer more territories, but now it would give him rewards if he managed them.
He could also see that to register a territory, he would need to have people who could represent it become his subordinates. For specifics, he would need to run some tests.
As for the grades, they followed the item grades of Yggdrasil: Low, Medium, High, Top, Legacy, Relic, Legendary, and Divine.
Nazarick was of the highest grade, Divine, so the rewards were good. He would need to see if it was possible to raise its grade further, maybe to the World grade or something.
In any case, now he had a direction for the growth of Nazarick: Conquer Territories and earn rewards.
Momonga looked at the Guardians, who were patiently waiting for his instructions.
Their loyalty was unquestionable; he knew as much even before he could see it quantified. These were people who would gladly die if he ordered them to. As for why most of them didn't reach 100, he guessed it had to do with him not being their creator.
Each member of Ainz Ooal Gown created at least one NPC, so most of them were not his direct creations.
As the only member left, he enjoyed their loyalty, but his guess was that if an NPC faced their own creator, they would prioritize their creator's orders over his. Albedo was the exception due to the setting his previous self gave her.
Love was a powerful thing.
He wondered if any of the other members of Ainz Ooal Gown had been transported here.
Would it become a problem for him if they did?
He felt anger flowing through his body just by thinking about it.
THUD!
The sound of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown hitting the floor made all the NPCs flinch.
In his anger, Momonga began to unconsciously emit a shadowy aura. It sizzled from his body, crawling through the air until it reached the guardians, who instantly felt their bodies tremble.
The Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, huh? He looked at the weapon in his hand.
A staff that represented all of us. He turned it around, admiring all the exquisite details that went into making this weapon.
He remembered the many days they all spent searching for the materials to craft it. All the discussions, the disagreements over what it should look like or what jewels to use.
A smile graced his face as he remembered the glorious days he spent with his friends. Those were his most treasured memories, and, much like Nazarick, this staff embodied those moments.
But these times didn't last, and he remembered the years of isolation, spending every day farming in safe areas just to keep Nazarick functioning.
He remembered how Ainz Ooal Gown kept falling further and further in the ranks of guilds.
The fear he felt that another coalition of guilds would attack and destroy Nazarick while he was alone.
He remembered the humiliation he felt when he tried to reach out to them, asking if they would show up in the game, even for a brief moment.
Even on the last day…
The Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown represents all of us, but who is it that weilds it if not me?
Who is it that can command Nazarick if not me!?
THUD!
He hit the ground once again as he stood up.
Momonga looked down at the NPCs and made his decision.
"From now on, you shall address me as Ainz Ooal Gown." He pointed his staff at them.
"Do any of you object?"
The NPCs lowered their heads in a silence that spoke for itself.
"Good!" He sat on his throne, feeling a weight lifting from his non-existent heart.
He couldn't hate his former companions; the part of him made from Momonga made him incapable of that. His memories of them were a treasure for his heart that not even his undead constitution could erase.
But he was also the Demon King, someone who couldn't quite forgive them for what they did, even if he understood their reasoning.
Ainz Ooal Gown would be his name, as the amalgamation of both of them.
"Sebas."
"Yes, Mo- Ainz Ooal Gown-sama." The old butler corrected himself mid-sentence.
"Just Ainz will do. And this applies to all citizens of Nazarick.
Sebas, I want you to report what you found in the surroundings of Nazarick."
Sebas then began to recount how he and the Pleiades found just a plain meadow with no intelligent life within a radius of 1Km from Nazarick. No monsters or anything of note.
With this information, Ainz was convinced that they were no longer in Yggdrasil.
"Thank you, Sebas. And thank you, Pleiades."
They defaulted to the humble subservient behavior he was growing used to seeing. He let them finish, then continued, addressing everyone.
"As you heard, it seems that we have been transported to another world."
"With it, I also awakened a different power that allows me to earn a few rewards by acquiring some territories. These are some of the ones I just earned by having my ownership of Nazarick recognized after you swore your loyalty to me." He showed them some of the items he received.
"I wish to conquer territories in this new world. Will you help me with that?"
"YES!" All of them responded at the same time, without hesitation. Even Mare, who was usually so timid, showed an almost aggressive assertiveness.
"Good."
"But maintaining Nazarick safe will always be the number one priority in this campaign of ours." There would be no meaning in dominating this world if their home were destroyed in the process.
"Aura, and Mare, considering the layout described by Sebas, what do you suggest we do to hide Nazarick from outsiders?" If they were really in a meadow, the risk of Nazarick being discovered by outsiders was too big for his liking.
Mare then suggested using mud to cover Nazarick's walls, which was met with resistance by Albedo, and the other guardians showed their silent agreement with her.
But he liked the idea, so in the end, Aura and Mare were entrusted with the mission of hiding Nazarick and creating some artificial hills in the area so it would blend in better with its surroundings. Illusions would cover it from above.
For now, this would have to suffice.
"Demiurge, you are to raise the security to the maximum level until we can confirm that there are no immediate threats to us from the outside."
"Albedo, I want you to confirm that all the systems of Nazarick are working normally."
"Yes, Ainz-sama!" Both of them responded.
"For all the other guardians, I want you to return to your respective floors and to begin formulating plans on how to improve the security and the administration of your floors."
"You can use the help of Nyx's sisters for this. Coordinate with Albedo at all times." Most of the floor guardians were not intellectuals, but the sisters he created would make up for that.
After they recognized his command, he turned to Sebas.
"Sebas, I hereby grant you the title of Floor Guardian of the 9th floor."
Just as his words faded, he saw the faces of surprise on the other guardians. He couldn't blame them; this would bring a major change to the group's dynamics.
Sebas was trembling with emotion, trying really hard not to smile while his eyes turned watery.
Ainz smiled, happy for him.
"Yuri Alpha, Lupusregina Beta, Narberal Gama, CZ2128 Delta, Solution Epsilon, and Entoma Vasilissa Zeta, you are to continue to work under Sebas, now as Area Guardians."
"Lastly, I want all of you to prepare your floors for my visit tomorrow. I want all the citizens of Nazarick to swear their loyalty to me." It was best for him to register everyone as soon as possible.
"Do any of you have questions?"